Aiming sight

ABSTRACT

An aiming sight has a base, light gathering rod on the base and a lens on the base to the rear of the light gathering rod. Light emitted from the back end of the light gathering rod is redirected be the lens to converge near the shooting eye and is not visible to the other eye. Side walls or a lens tube on the base block direct sight of the back end of the light gathering rod by the other eye. The distance from the back end of the light gathering rod to the lens is adjustable. The lens can be round, triangular or any other shape.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present invention relates to aiming sights and more particularly toa sight that is only visible to the shooting eye.

BACKGROUND ART

Modern firearms are inherently very accurate. The ability to shootaccurately depends on accurate pointing or aiming, and often requiresrapid acquisition of the target. Known sights commonly have a frontsight in the form of a small bead sight near the muzzle or front of thefirearm barrel. Such sights can also have a rear sight near the breachor rear of the firearm barrel.

Conventional bead sights have several shortcomings. Bead sights aredifficult to see in low light conditions and against dark backgrounds.When sighting with a bead sight, a shooter can raise the eye too highabove the barrel so that the firearm points higher than intended. Manypeople are cross dominant, shooting right handed and having a dominantleft eye, or vise versa. Such cross dominant people may unintentionallyuse the dominant eye instead of the correct shooting eye to align thebead sight with the target, so that the firearm points laterally awayfrom the target. These shortcomings of the bead sight are particularlyapparent when rapid target acquisition is required such as shotgunshooting of bird, trap or skeet, or pistol firing at moving targets.

One improvement to front sights relative to the bead sight is the use ofa small artificial light source to replace the bead sight. The lightsource can be electrical or photo chemical. Front sights with artificiallight sources are relatively complex and require periodic replacement ofthe light or power source.

Another improvement is the use of a light-gathering tube or rod,generally of a colored plastic material, to replace the bead sight. Suchlight-gathering rods have a length many times the cross sectionaldimension, and thereby have a peripheral surface area much greater thanthe end area. Light is absorbed through the peripheral surface andemitted through the end of the tube. A front sight with alight-gathering tube is easily seen in low light conditions and againsta dark background.

U.S. Pat. No. 3,362,074 to Luebkeman et al. discloses a front sight witha lens and a very small distinct object mounted forward of the lens atthe focal point of the lens. The lens changes the direction of lightfrom the object so that the shooting eye can see the object while thenon-shooting eye cannot see the object through the lens. Luebkemandiscloses the object as a small colored dot, a small electric light or asmall piece of fluorescent material.

U.S. Pat. No. 5,862,618 to Brown, and U.S. Pat. No. 6,014,830 and U.S.Patent Application Publication No. 2003/0079396 to Brown et al. eachdisclose sights with a light gathering rod and an elongated hollow tubethrough which the light gathering rod is viewed. In the '618 and '830patents the light gathering rod is at the forward end of the hollowtube, whereas in the '396 publication the light gathering rod is nearthe firearm muzzle and the hollow tube is near the firearm breach.

U.S. Pat. No. 6,604,315 to Smith et al. discloses a sight that uses adiffraction grating. The sight changes color as the shooting eye movesup and down or side to side relative to the barrel of the firearm.

DISCLOSURE OF THE INVENTION

An aiming sight includes a mounting base, and a light gathering rod anda converging lens on the base. The rod has a peripheral surface thatabsorbs light and a back end that emits the light. The lens is alignedwith the rod and has a selected focal length. The lens is spacedrearwardly from the rod a selected distance that is slightly greaterthan the focal length of the lens. Lateral walls or a hollow tube on thebase extend forwardly from the lens provide a means for blocking theview of the back end of the light gathering tube from the non-shootingeye. The lens redirects light rays emitted by the back end of the rod toconverge near the position of the shooting eye so that the back end ofthe rod is only visible through the lens to the shooting eye and onlyvisible to the shooting eye when the shooting eye is properly positionedrelative to the gun barrel.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Details of this invention are described in connection with theaccompanying drawings that bear similar reference numerals in which:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of an aiming sight embodying features ofthe present invention.

FIG. 2 is an exploded view of the aiming sight of FIG. 1.

FIG. 3 is a diagramic top plan view of the operation of the aiming sightof FIG. 1.

FIG. 4 is a perspective view of the aiming sight of FIG. 1 with anadjustable lens.

FIG. 5 is a perspective view of the aiming sight of FIG. 1 with amodified light gathering rod.

FIG. 6 is a perspective view of a light gathering rod for the aimingsight of FIG. 5.

FIG. 7 is a perspective view of another light gathering rod for theaiming sight of FIG. 5.

FIG. 8 is a perspective view of another aiming sight embodying featuresof the present invention.

FIG. 9 is an exploded view of the aiming sight of FIG. 8.

FIG. 10 is a perspective view of the aiming sight of FIG. 8 with amodified lens tube and lens.

FIG. 11 is a perspective view of another aiming sight embodying featuresof the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

Referring to FIGS. 1 and 2, an aiming sight 11 embodying features of thepresent invention includes a base 12, a light gathering rod 14 and alens 15. The base 12 has substantially flat top surface 16 with anelongated rectangular shape. The base 12 shown is configured forreplacement of a threaded bead sight on a gun barrel and includes amounting aperture 18 that extends through the base 12 near the front ofthe top surface 16, for receiving a threaded fastener for attachment toa gun. The base 12 of the aiming sight 11 can be provided in otherconfigurations for other methods of attachment on various types of guns.By way of examples, and not as limitations, the base 12 may be providedin a magnetic configuration for attachment to the rib of a shotgun or asnap-on configuration for attachment to plain barrel shotgun. The base12 of the aiming sight 11 can also be provided in configurations formounting on other types of aimed devices such as archery bows,crossbows, handguns or paintball guns. The base 12 of the aiming sight11 can further be integrated into an aimed device.

Describing the specific embodiments herein chosen for illustrating theinvention, certain terminology is used which will be recognized as beingemployed for convenience and having no limiting significance. Forexample, the terms “front”, “back”, “right”, “left” “vertical”,“horizontal, “lateral”, “longitudinal”, “upper” and “lower” refer to theillustrated embodiment in its normal position of use. Further, all ofthe terminology above-defined includes derivatives of the wordspecifically mentioned and words of similar import.

Spaced first and second side walls 20 and 21 project upwardly fromopposite sides of the top surface 16 and extend the length of the topsurface 16 of the base 12. Three spaced connecting walls 22 connect fromthe first side wall 20 to the second side wall 21 on the forward portionof the top surface 16. A rod aperture 23, sized and shaped to receive alight gathering rod 14, extends through each connecting wall 22, withthe rod apertures 23 in the three connecting walls 22 being aligned. Thefirst and second side walls 20 and 21 each include an elongated sideopening 24 between each pair of the connecting walls 22.

A substantially flat bottomed, vertically sided lens mounting channel 26is relieved downwardly in the top surface 16. The lens mounting channel26 extends rearwardly from the connecting walls 22 to the rear of thebase 12. The lens mounting channel 26 is spaced inwardly from the firstand second side walls 21 and 22, forming channel shoulders 27. A lensmounting aperture 28 extends laterally through each of the first andsecond side walls 21 and 22 near the rear of the base 12. The lensmounting apertures 28 are spaced above the top surface 16 and arealigned with each other.

The light gathering rod 14 shown is an elongated cylinder and isreceived in the rod apertures 23 of the connecting walls 22. The lightgathering rod 14 can be injection molded and therefore can made in anyselected shape. The light gathering rod 14 is made of translucentplastic and is generally a bright color such as green, crimson, yellowor orange. The light gathering rod 14 has a smooth, polished periphery30 and a textured back end 31. The back end 31 can be flat or convex.Ambient light from above the light gathering rod 14 and ambient lightpassing through the side openings 24 is absorb through the periphery 30and emitted through the back end 31. The texture of the back end 31assists the dispersion of the light waves, insuring a fully illuminatedviewing end of the light gathering rod 14.

The lens 15 is mounted on the base 12, between the first and second sidewalls 21 and 22. The lens 15 shown is round and is integrally moldedwith a lens mounting portion 33. The lens mounting portion 33 has sides34 that are spaced to fit between the first and second side walls 21 and22 of the base 12, and notches 35 that extend inwardly and thendownwardly below each side 34. The notches 35 are sized to fit aroundthe channel shoulders 27 with the lens mounting portion 33 extendingdown into the lens mounting channel 26. A rounded protrusion or knob 36projects from each side 34 of the lens mounting portion 33. The knobs 36are sized and positioned to fit at least partially into the lensmounting apertures 28 in the first and second side walls 21 and 22 ofthe base 12. The first and second side walls 21 and 22 have sufficientflex or resiliency that the lens mounting portion 33 is releasablysecured on the base by the knobs 36.

The lens 15 is mounted rearwardly of the back end 31 of the lightgathering rod 14 so that light emitted by the back end 31 falls on thelens 15 and is redirected by the lens 15. As shown in FIG. 3, the lens15 has a selected focal length f and is a converging lens, such thatparallel light rays falling on the lens 15 are redirected by the lens toconverge at the focal length f on the opposite side of the lens 15. Thelens 15 is mounted a selected distance d1 from the back end 31.

The back end 31 of the light gathering rod 14 provides a bright spot oflight directed rearwardly in low light conditions and the color of thelight gathering rod 14 can be selected for good contrast with theexpected shooting background. Light rays from the light gathering rod 14fall on the lens 15 and are redirected rearwardly by the lens 15 tosubstantially converge at the shooting eye 39. The shooting eye 39, whenthe shooting eye 39 is properly aligned with the gun barrel, can see thebright image of the back end 31 of the light gathering rod 14 throughthe lens 15, while the non-shooting eye 55 cannot see the image of theback end 31 of the light gathering rod 14 through the lens 15. Theshooting eye 39 cannot see the bright image of the back end 31 of thelight gathering rod 14 through the lens 15 when the shooting eye 39 isnot properly aligned with the gun barrel, as when the shooter lifts theshooting eye 39 above the barrel 41 of the gun.

The size and intensity of the image through the lens 15 at the shootingeye are influenced by the focal length f of the lens 15, the distanced1, from the back end 31 of the light gathering rod 14 to the lens 15,and the distance d2, from the lens 15 to the shooting eye 39. Thedistance d1 is slightly greater than the focal length f and is selectedsuch that light rays from the back end 31 of the light gathering rod 14are redirected by the lens 15 to converge at the distance d2. The firstand second side walls 21 and 22 provide means for blocking direct sightof the back end 31 from the non-shooting eye.

FIG. 4 shows a modified aiming sight 11 with a plurality oflongitudinally spaced lens mounting apertures 28 in each of the firstand second side walls 21 and 22 of the base 12. The distance d1 can beadjusted by removing the lens mounting portion 33 from one pair of lensmounting apertures 28 and mounting the lens mounting portion 33 inanother pair of lens mounting apertures 28. The distance d1 can therebybe adjusted for different length barrels when the aiming sight 11 isused on a shotgun or a rifle, or different length shooter arms when theaiming sight 11 is used on a handgun. Other structure can be used for asa means for adjusting the distance d1, including, by way of example, andnot as a limitation, structure that adjusts the position of the back end31 of the light gathering rod 14 on the base 12.

As shown in FIGS. 5, 6 and 7, the aiming sight 11 may be used with alight gathering rod 14 having a smaller back end 31. The aiming sight 11includes a cap 59 that has a round end 60 with center aperture 61. Acylindrical rim 62 extends forwardly from the end 60. The rim 62 issized to fit around the light gathering rod 14. The larger size of theperiphery 30 of the light gathering rod 14 provides increased lightabsorption while the relatively smaller diameter of the back end 31provides a smaller spot for aiming. Light emitted from the back end 31passes through the center aperture 61 to the lens 15. The end 60 of thecap 59 blocks the remainder of the light gathering rod 14 from sight.The light gathering rod 14 can taper to a smaller back end 31, as shownin FIG. 6, or the light gathering rod 14 can neck down near the back end31, as shown FIG. 7. The center aperture 61 can be sized to receive thenecked down back end 31 of the light gathering rod 14. The cap 59 canalso be used with a cylindrical light gathering rod 14, such as shown inFIG. 2.

FIGS. 8 and 9 show another aiming sight 50 embodying features of thepresent invention including a base 51, a light gathering rod 53 and alens 54. The base 51 has substantially flat top surface 55 with anelongated rectangular shape. The base 51 shown is configured forreplacement of a threaded bead sight and includes a mounting aperture 57that extends through the base 51 near the front of the top surface 55,for receiving a threaded fastener for attachment to a gun.

Three longitudinally spaced rod mounting projections 59 project upwardlyfrom the forward portion of the top surface 55. The rod mountingprojections 59 have arch or inverted U outer shape when viewed fromeither end of the base 51. A rod aperture 60, sized and shaped toreceive a light gathering rod 53, extends through each rod mountingprojection 59, with the rod apertures 60 in the three rod mountingprojections 59 being aligned. A lens tube mounting projection 62, spacedrearwardly from the rod mounting projections 59, projects upwardly fromthe forward portion of the top surface 55. The lens tube mountingprojection 62 has a shape similar to the rod mounting projections 59,and a slightly larger size. A lens tube aperture 63, aligned with therod apertures 60 and sized to receive a lens tube, extends through thelens tube mounting projection 62.

The light gathering rod 53 shown is an elongated cylinder and isreceived in the rod apertures 60 of the rod mounting projections 59. Thelight gathering rod 53 has a smooth, polished periphery 65 and atextured back end 66 that directs a bright spot of light rearwardly. Thelens 54 is circular and mounts in a hollow lens tube 68. The lens tube68 shown has a cylindrical rear section 69, sized to receive the lens 54near a rear end 70, connected to a front section 71 that tapers to afront end 72 that is sized to receive the back end 66 of the lightgathering rod 53. The lens tube 68 mounts in the lens tube aperture 63with the front end 72 of the lens tube 68 around the back end 66 of thelight gathering rod 53. The lens tube 68 provides means for blockingsight of the back end 66 from the non-shooting eye.

FIG. 10 shows the aiming sight 50 with an alternative lens 74 and lenstube 76. The lens tube 76 is hollow, and has a rear section 77 thattapers from a triangular rear end 78 to connect to a front section 79.The front section 79 has a circular cross section and tapers to a frontend 80 that is sized to receive the back end 66 of the light gatheringrod 53. The lens 74 has a triangular shape and fits into the rear end 78of the rear section 77. The triangular shape of the lens 74 provides amore precise reference point when shooting at moving targets.

Referring to FIG. 11, another aiming sight 83 embodying features of thepresent invention includes a base 84, a light gathering rod 86 and alens 87. The front portion of the base 84 has substantially flat topsurface 88 with an elongated rectangular shape. The base 84 shown isconfigured for replacement of a threaded bead sight and includes amounting aperture 90 that extends through the base 84 near the front ofthe top surface 88, for receiving a threaded fastener for attachment toa gun. Two longitudinally spaced rod mounting projections 91 projectupwardly from the top surface 88. The rod mounting projections 91 havearch or inverted U outer shape when viewed from either end of the base84. A rod aperture 92, sized and shaped to receive a light gathering rod86, extends through each rod mounting projection 91, with the rodapertures 92 in the two rod mounting projections 59 being aligned.

A hollow lens tube 94 is integrated into the base 84, extendingrearwardly from the top surface 88. The lens tube 94 has a generallycircular cross section that extends below the level of the top surface88, and the lens tube 94 tapers outwardly from front to back. A rearwardportion of the lens tube 94 is upwardly open, forming a semi-circular,upwardly concave lens channel 95. A lens mounting groove 96 is extendslaterally across the bottom of the lens channel 95, and is sized toreceive the lens 87.

The light gathering rod 86 shown is an elongated cylinder and isreceived in the rod apertures 92 of the rod mounting projections 91. Thelight gathering rod 86 has a smooth, polished periphery 98 and atextured back end 99 that directs a bright spot of light rearwardly. Thelens 87 is circular and mounts in the lens mounting groove 96.

Although the present invention has been described with a certain degreeof particularity, it is understood that the present disclosure has beenmade by way of example and that changes in details of structure may bemade without departing from the spirit thereof.

1. An aiming sight for an aimed device, comprising: a base for mounting on said device, an elongated light gathering rod, mounted on said base, having a periphery through which light is absorbed and a rearwardly facing back end through which light is emitted, and a converging lens having a selected focal length, said lens being mounted on said base in alignment with said light gathering rod and spaced a selected distance rearwardly from said back end, whereby light emitted from said back end is redirected by said lens so that said light is visible to a shooting eye and not visible to a non-shooting eye.
 2. The sight as set forth in claim 1 wherein said distance is greater than said focal length.
 3. The sight as set forth in claim 1 including means for adjusting said distance.
 4. The sight as set forth in claim 1 wherein said lens is adjustably movable on said base for adjusting said distance.
 5. The sight as set forth in claim 1 including means for blocking sight of said back end from said non-shooting eye.
 6. The sight as set forth in claim 5 wherein said means for blocking includes a side wall extending forwardly from said lens.
 7. The sight as set forth in claim 5 wherein said means for blocking includes a hollow tube extending along a least a portion of said distance between said lens and said back end.
 8. The sight as set forth in claim 1 wherein said light gathering rod includes a relatively larger said periphery and a relatively smaller said back end, whereby said light gathering rod provides a smaller spot for aiming.
 9. The sight as set forth in claim 8 wherein said light gathering rod tapers to said back end.
 10. The sight as set forth in claim 9 wherein said light gathering rod necks down to said back end.
 11. The sight as set forth in claim 1 wherein said light gathering rod includes a cap over said back end, said cap having a center aperture, whereby light emitted from said back end passes through said center aperture to said lens, providing a smaller spot for aiming.
 12. The sight as set forth in claim 1 including a hollow lens tube mounted on said base and extending rearwardly of said light gathering rod, said lens tube having a rear end and said lens being mounted in said lens tube near said rear end.
 13. The sight as set forth in claim 12 wherein said rear end of said lens tube and said lens are round.
 14. The sight as set forth in claim 12 wherein said rear end of said lens tube and said lens are triangular.
 15. An aiming sight for an aimed device, comprising: a base for mounting on said device, an elongated light gathering rod, mounted on said base, having a periphery through which light is absorbed and a rearwardly facing back end through which light is emitted, laterally spaced first and second side walls on said base, said first and second side walls extending rearwardly of said back end of said light gathering rod on opposite sides of said light gathering rod, and a converging lens having a selected focal length, said lens being mounted on said base in alignment with said light gathering rod and adjustably spaced a selected distance rearwardly from said back end, said distance being greater than said focal length, whereby light emitted from said back end is redirected by said lens so that said light is visible to a shooting eye and not visible to a non-shooting eye, and said first and second side walls block sight of said back end from said non-shooting eye.
 16. An aiming sight for an aimed device, comprising: a base for mounting on said device, an elongated light gathering rod, mounted on said base, having a periphery through which light is absorbed and a rearwardly facing back end through which light is emitted, a hollow lens tube mounted on said base and extending rearwardly of said light gathering rod, said lens tube having a rear end, and a converging lens having a selected focal length, said lens being mounted in said lens tube near said rear end of said lens tube and spaced a selected distance rearwardly from said back end of said light gathering rod, said distance being greater than said focal length, whereby light emitted from said back end is redirected by said lens so that said light is visible to a shooting eye and not visible to a non-shooting eye, and said lens tube blocks sight of said back end from said non-shooting eye. 